---
title: "Bike Box"
url: "https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/elements/bike-box/"
id: "ELM-BKB-42"
description: "A designated waiting area marked at the head of a signalized intersection, positioned ahead of the vehicle stop line, allowing cyclists to position themselves in front of queued vehicles during a red signal for improved visibility and to enable a safer left turn or through movement."
updated: "2026-09-26"
---

# Bike Box

`ELM-BKB-42`

Recommended Element

Bike Box

A designated waiting area marked at the head of a signalized intersection, positioned ahead of the vehicle stop line, allowing cyclists to position themselves in front of queued vehicles during a red signal for improved visibility and to enable a safer left turn or through movement.

## Related Media

The items below come from outside the Commonway System, external videos, podcasts, and articles related to this page's topic, not part of the guidebook itself.

Aligned

### [Are Streets Too Complicated Now?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Xs5EA5_uU)

City Beautiful

Asks whether today's proliferation of lines, signals, and lane types on streets is overcomplication or a needed response to modern demands, a question that runs directly through CS's Element-scale catalog and the density-tiered Corridor retrofit paths this video is tagged to.

Aligned

### [Dutch-style intersection design: bike-friendly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCzi1Q4xCTA)

BicycleDutch

Shows the protected-intersection design vocabulary, continuous cycle tracks, corner refuge islands, separated signal phasing, that underpins CS's Protected Intersection pattern and the Corridor retrofit paths built around it.

## Why this pattern exists

At a signalized intersection, a cyclist stopped alongside or behind queued vehicles has reduced visibility to drivers and a harder time making a turning movement across traffic once the signal changes; a bike box gives cyclists a visible head-start position ahead of the queue, addressing this specific intersection conflict. This pattern exists to document where and how that positioning treatment is applied.[1]

## Key considerations

-   Requires a "no turn on red" restriction for vehicles at that approach, since the box’s function depends on vehicles not entering the space during the cyclist’s queuing period
-   Most effective when paired with a bike lane leading into the box, so cyclists have a legible, protected path to reach it
-   Signal timing and driver awareness both affect real-world compliance; signage and clear markings help reinforce expected behavior

## Related patterns

[Green Pavement/Conflict Marking](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/elements/green-pavement-conflict-marking.md) (ELM-GPM-38) (often used to highlight the box itself); [Protected Bike Lane/Cycle Track](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/elements/protected-bike-lane-cycle-track.md) (ELM-PBL-37), [Conventional Bike Lane](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/elements/conventional-bike-lane.md) (ELM-CBL-34) (the facilities that typically lead into a bike box)

## References

1.  Legal / regulatory [MUTCD 11th Edition with Revision 1 (FHWA, December 2025; effective March 5, 2026), Part 9. Intersection bicycle boxes formalized as standard, previously FHWA Interim Approval IA-18.](https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/11th_Editionr1/mutcd11theditionr1hl.pdf)